10. Marcia Karrow – Karrow put everything on the line to win Leonard Lance’s vacated Senate seat. Karrow defeated Michael Doherty in January’s special election convention, but the victory was short-lived. Doherty had the last laugh when he upended Karrow in June’s primary and now Karrow is out of a job altogether. And it probably served her right after the despicable ad she ran during the campaign that questioned Senator Doherty’s patrotism.

9. Joe Coniglio -  In April, former Senator Joe Coniglio was convicted on 6 counts of fraud and extortion. The scandal revolved around Coniglio funneling over a million bucks to Hackensack Hospital after the hospital had given him a high-paying consulting job. End result for Joe: 2 1/2 years in the klink.

8. President Obama – Why is Obama one of New Jersey’s Biggest Losers?’ Well, when you come to New Jersey several times over and throw the weight of the Presidency behind Jon Corzine, then Corzine gets thumped, you are a loser.

 
 
7. Joe ‘The Tool’ Doria – Doria is the ultimate Trenton political hack. As head of the Department of Community Affairs, Doria was most responsible for pushing COAH. He also was a staunch defender of the state’s unfair school funding formula. But Doria makes the list for his role in Operation Bid Rig, the big scandal that erupted back in July. Shortly after the scandal broke, Doria had his home raided and was forced to resign from the Corzine Administration. That his daughter was home at the time of the raid makes it all worse. Per my original post: “Sources say they did not arrest Doria, whose daughter could be heard screaming, “Don’t hurt my daddy, don’t hurt my daddy.” Nice.

6. Senator Bill Baroni – Our first RINO on the list, Bill ‘The Phony’ Baroni earns the 6th spot. Reason? Well, let’s start with being our worst Republican State Senator. His putrid voting record resulted in a big fat ‘F’ grade from Americans for Prosperity. And recently he gave us one of his worst votes: an ‘aye’ vote in committee for the the gay marriage bill. That’s enough for me.
 
5. The B. Bernice Young Elementary School – “Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm, Barack Hussein Obama”. The school in Burlington, NJ school found itself the center of controversy for indoctrinating kids with the now-infamous Obama ditty. For that shameful display, the teacher of that class, Elvira James, and the school district’s superintendent, Christopher Manno, take the #5 spot on the list.

4. The RINO Trio: Chris Smith, Frank LoBiondo, Leonard Lance – I couldn’t separate these three. First and foremost, of course, is their unforgiveable vote for Cap & Trade. But there is more fuel to add to that fire. Lance was repeatedly a no-show at town halls, afraid to face his constituents during the August heat. Lance also broke a pledge not to vote for earmarks. Chris Smith is directly responsible for the passage of healthcare in the House thanks to his short-sighted support of the Stupak Amendment. And LoBiondo also voted for the Porkulus bill. One can only hope that all three are primaried next year. I’d hate to have to include them on this list again at the end of 2010.

3. ‘Goomba’ Joe Ferriero & Dennis Oury – The proverbial chickens came home to roost for the long-time BCDO head. ‘Goomba’ Joe and his pal Dennis Oury were found guilty in October of several counts of fraud. As they say, ‘every dog has his day.’ Now, Ferriero and Oury will be spending some quality time up the river.

2. Peter Cammarano (Hoboken Mayor) – I guess you could include the rest of the people rounded up in the Operation Bid Rig scandal here, too. Among them, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Assemblymen L. Harvey Smith and Daniel Van Pelt, Lou Manzo and others. But there’s just something extra special about someone who was arrested just 22 days after being sworn into office.

Drum roll, please! And coming in at #1….

1. Governor Jon ‘Stupidhead’ Corzine – Who else could be at #1 after running the state into the ground, calling Chris Christie fat and telling us all to move to North Dakota if we wanted to live somewhere with low unemployment? Then, of course, getting trounced by Christie in November. Add it all up, ladies and gentlemen, and you have New Jersey’s Biggest Loser of 2009!

Disagree? Someone else you want to mention? Make it known in the comments section!

Cross-posted at CMNJ.

TRENTON, N.J. — Stalled in the Legislature for more than eight years, immigrant rights advocates are calling on New Jersey lawmakers to pass a bill granting in-state college tuition for all residents, regardless of immigration status, before Gov. Jon S. Corzine leaves office in January.

Residents are eligible to pay much lower tuition to attend a public college in the Garden State. Out-of-state students often pay tuition several times higher to attend the same school.

The bill, scheduled to be heard on Monday in the Senate Budget Committee, would apply to New Jersey residents who have attended high school in the state for three years.

Rev. R. Lenton Buffalo, Jr., of the Union Baptist church in Elizabeth and a member of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, said the bill isn’t just about immigration but also discrimination.

“It wasn’t that long ago when money prohibited so many talented African Americans from going to college,” he said. “The bottom line is, if a student has bought into the American dream, it shouldn’t be a nightmare when it’s time to go to college.”

Of the six states that take in the most immigrants, New Jersey and Florida are the only two that do not have some form of the in-state tuition legislation.

While the proposal has languished in Legislature for years, it’s getting renewed support following the recent recommendations of a statewide panel on immigrant issues and has the backing of Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who has supported the idea since his days in the U.S. Senate.

The report by the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy argues that students who obtain college degrees are more likely to join the formal labor force, pay taxes and remain in the state.

In New Jersey, the legislation would affect an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 undocumented students who graduate from high school each year.

The push to pass the bill also has intensified as Corzine prepares to leave office on Jan. 19. Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie opposes the idea, saying only lawful taxpayers deserve a tuition break because they help subsidize in-state institutions.

Honestly, it’s just laughable reading these stories and seeing how the writer can never bring him/herself to use the proper term: Illegal immigrants.

Here’s an idea, for these “immigrant advocates.” Tell the people you “represent” to come here legally and then become citizens. Then you won’t have to worry about them paying in-state tuition rates at our colleges and universities.

God forbid.

Cross-posted at Red County and CMNJ.

Millions spent – and not one job saved or created!

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine spent $27 million on his unsuccessful re-election bid, more than double the Republican who ousted him, according to state campaign finance data.

Corzine, a Democrat and former co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., self-financed most of his campaign, contributing or loaning $25.3 million to the effort, according to figures reported to the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Christopher Christie, the first Republican elected to statewide office in New Jersey in 12 years, spent $11.4 million.

Christie and independent candidate Christopher Daggett, unlike Corzine, both accepted public matching funds and were therefore limited in their spending. Christie got 49 percent of the vote in the Nov. 3 election, while Corzine received 45 percent and Daggett garnered 5.8 percent.

The three candidates spent $40.1 million, 31 percent less than the $58.3 million expended during the state’s 2005 race for governor by Corzine and his Republican challenger, businessman Doug Forrester. Both self-financed those campaigns. Economic conditions and pay-to-play laws limited contributions this year, said Jeff Brindle, executive director of the commission.

Christie, 47, the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey, defeated Corzine, 62, amid voter dissatisfaction over rising taxes and joblessness and the U.S. recession. He is scheduled to take office Jan. 19.

Cross-posted at Red County and CMNJ.

An interesting document found its way to my inbox last weekend. It was a PowerPoint presentation of an analysis done by the New Jersey Education Association, regarding its efforts to re-elect Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

The document can be found at NEAexposed.com.

Citing “Electile Dysfunction,” meaning the polls were telling them that voters, including teachers, weren’t as enthusiastic about Corzine as they would like, the union’s Director of Government Relations, Ginger Gold Schnitzer, proposed a double-dose remedy: “A robust member-to-member campaign,” followed by “an independent communications campaign to inoculate the public.” 

The first dose of the union’s plan was to appeal to its members. The radical community organizer Saul Alinsky taught the NEA that the trick to “organizing people is to appeal to their self-interest.”  Thus, the union promoted Corzine’s pro-union “accomplishments,” like investing $3 billion into public pensions, increasing school funding, increasing school construction, expanding pre-kindergarten programs, opposing school vouchers, and providing free medical benefits for teacher for life.

Oddly, the union didn’t cite any accomplishment that actually helped students.

To “inoculate” the public, the union targeted women under 45.  It purchased advertising on cable channels typically watched by women, like the Food Network, HGTV, Lifetime, TLC, Bravo and a few others. Even though the ads were purchased by an “education” organization, they focused completely on issues they thought would sway women to Corzine, like health care and family leave. The ads also directed viewers to a website operated by a group called “NJ Kids and Families.”

How heartwarming, not to mention completely phony.

We all know Corzine went down to defeat November 3. But the New Jersey teachers’ union held its head high in one aspect - it successfully tore Christie down in the eyes of women under 45.

According to polling conducted in August, 36% of women under 45 favored Corzine while 32% supported Christie. But at the polls, following the advertising blitz, 54% of that demographic went for Corzine while 41% voted for Christie.

This leaked analysis underscores the fact that teachers unions are inherently political organizations that put the interests of their members first.  And kids?  Heck, what do they have to do with schools?

Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. While there are many teachers out there who care very much about educating kids, the same can not be said of the union that represents them. This story demonstrates quite clearly that the NJEA has little, if any, interest in providing kids the best possible education. Its main motivation is growing its ranks and greedily trying get their hands on every taxpayer dime it possibly can.

Cross-posted at Red County and CMNJ.

As has been feared, the Democrats are planning to put the controversial gay marriage issue to a vote before Chris Christie takes office. My colleagues over at Conservative Majority New Jersey (formerly Conservatives with Attitude!) Sharon Soon and Michael Illions have just posted on this.

Sharon’s post mentions the following:

The New Jersey Family Policy Council has just announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee will post and vote on a gay marriage bill. The bill has been introduced by recently defeated Lieutenant Governor candidate Loretta Weinberg and openly gay Assemblyman Reed Gusciora.

The NJFPC is calling all supporters to call their legislators, notify churches about this bill, and sign the marriage petition (it can be signed repeatedly).

While Michael’s post warns that 4 RINO Republicans are rumored to be in favor of this bill.

The names of the Gay Marriage enablers in the Republican Party should not surprise or shock anyone. They are Jennifer Beck, who once was on the short list to become Chris Christie’s LG pick until it rumored that they had discussed that possibility while he was still a US Attorney.

The next one is Sean Kean, one of the GOP Senator’s who voted to reappoint Liberal Judge Barry Albin, to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Kip Bateman makes three. Kip voted to repeal the Death Penalty as an Assemblyman 2 years ago and also joined the above mentioned weasel Sean Kean in voting to reappoint to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

And finally, the last of the 4 is Bill Baroni. Baroni was the lone “Republican” vote and the deciding vote that saddled this State with Paid Family Leave Act.

If you are a fellow New Jerseyan who opposes gay marriage, then it’s time to start getting on the phone and telling these legislators to vote ‘NO!’

Cross-posted at Red County.

With that said, here are my thoughts on yesterday’s election results.

New Jersey, in my mind, remains a deeply blue state. But even deeply blue states have a breaking point. New Jersey, this year, reached hers. This election is nothing less than a rejection of everything liberal, with voters fed up with an out-of-control, overbearing, overspending, over-taxing government.

Chris Christie’s victory was fueled by this sentiment and, despite a campaign that offered little in the way of specifics, New Jersey voters simply had had enough and opted for change. Christie successfully won over independent voters by a 2:1 margin – and conservatives pushed him well over the top, leading to a surprising 4-point win. Chris Daggett, who was well into double-digits according to some polls, faded badly and only garnered 6% of the vote.

Republicans, no doubt, are a bit euphoric today with Chris Christie’s victory. However, there is reason to temper that enthusiasm.

First and foremost, Chris Christie will still be facing a Democrat legislature. While Christie scored a significant victory, the same could not be said for the party regarding the state assembly races. In a year when the climate was as favorable as could be for Republicans in New Jersey, the party only gained one assembly seat – one.

Additionally, the open space ballot question passed despite opposition from Christie himself. While Christie won by a 4% margin, the ballot question lost by 2% (a 6% swing).

The inability to make inroads in the assembly is troubling to say the least - and speaks to a problem with the party apparatus. Whatever the NJ-GOP’s strategy is with respect to these races, it is failing – and failing miserably. With the election behind us, and the vital 2010 off-year election dead ahead, it is time for serious reflection and change for the NJ-GOP. The solution may not be a simple one, but I believe it begins with giving voters a real, tangible, conservative choice.   

Party chairman, Jay Webber, is certainly in an unenviable position in this respect. With the election behind us, the question remains as to whether Jay will now begin to move the NJ-GOP in a conservative direction. Additionally, we are facing the potential prospect of primary challenges to Reps. Smith, LoBiondo and Lance for their unforgiveable Cap & Trade votes. What happened in NY-23 to Dede Scozzafava could very easily happen with any one of these members of the New Jersey congressional delegation.  

The Christie victory should also teach us a lesson. Despite the misgivings among conservatives regarding Christie’s conservative credentials, on the surface he did run conservatively in many respects. He ran as a fiscal conservative, as well as a social conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage. Whether Christie governs as such is another matter. To the average voter, perception is reality; and I believe the perception was that Christie was at least moderately conservative. As such, the lesson to be learned here is that conservatives can win in New Jersey.

As we look ahead to 2010 and beyond, let’s just hope that this lesson is not lost on the NJ-GOP.

There have also been reports about ACORN being heavily involved in Corzine’s re-election effort.

Let’s cross our fingers that this doesn’t turn into last year’s Minnesota Senate race.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Here’s the story from PolitickerNJ in which party chair Joe Cryan denies any knowledge of the calls. Yep, the DSC pays for these calls but the party chair was supposedly in the dark. Believable? Hardly.

The Democratic State Committee now admits paying for a robocall to Somerset County voters that slams Republican Chris Christie and promotes independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett.

A Democratic spokeswoman says the party’s chairman, Joe Cryan, was not aware of the robocalls when he denied that the state committee had anything to do with them yesterday afternoon.

Cryan, who told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday afternoon that the Democratic State Committee had “absolutely” nothing to do with the call, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The call angered Republicans and further fueled conspiracy theories that Daggett is in cahoots with the Corzine camp.  A disclaimer at the end says it was paid for by Victory ’09, “a project of the NJDSC” (Democratic State Committee), and gave the committee’s Trenton address.  

You can read the rest of the story here.

[UPDATE] Shameless. The calls are continuing today.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

In the New Jersey governor’s race, Independent candidate Chris Daggett remains the unknown factor. Some polls have shown Daggett with as much as 15% of the vote. But my intuition tells me Christie’s recent attacks on Daggett have hurt him and with Corzine and Christie within the margin of error, many voters will not waste their vote on him upon entering that voting booth. As such I don’t see Daggett getting more than double digits – and I see long-suffering New Jersey taxpayers breaking toward Christie in what will be a squeaker. Final result: Christie 48%, Corzine 46%, Daggett 6%.

In Virginia, a swing state that turned Obama blue last year, we will witness a 180 degree turn. Republican Bob McDonnell will win in a landslide over Democrat Creigh Deeds. Prediction: McDonnell 56%, Deeds 44% 

Well, in NY-23, Dede Scozzafava was forced out of this race by conservatives who said she was too liberal. Now, she has proven us quite right with her endorsement of the liberal Bill Owens over conservative Doug Hoffman (Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?). In any case, with Scozzafava remaining on the ballot one would expect her to still receive some votes. So my prediction for this race is for a Hoffman victory, albeit much closer than recent races in this district. Final results: Hoffmann 51%, Owens 45%, Scozzafava 4%.

After some 9 months worth of campaigning, starting with the Republican primary season, Judgment Day is at hand in the New Jersey governor’s race.
In fact, like many New Jersey political bloggers, this campaign really started the moment The Anointed One, Barack Obama, was declared the winner of last year’s presidential election. And like many fellow Republicans and conservatives, my goal at that time was to do everything possible to oust Governor Corzine from office.

As this crucial election now falls upon us, I have come to the conclusion that this still remains my goal – and ought to be the goal of anyone who cares about the future of this state.

Like so many of my fellow conservatives, this race has left me troubled and conflicted. Little did I know a year ago just how much this race would divide us. The split between the Establishment of the party and grassroots conservatives is one that has reared its head – and likely will continue in the days and months ahead regardless of who wins on Tuesday. This battle, of course, is by no means limited to New Jersey. It stretches up to New York’s 23rd district, to a coming Senate primary battle in Florida, and likely into 2012’s presidential primary. I still firmly believe that the only way forward for the Republican Party, if it wishes to re-establish trust and a majority status, is by adopting conservative values and principles. And, ultimately, that means putting forth conservative candidates.

In this respect, this voter has been skeptical, perplexed, and, admittedly at times, downright disappointed with Mr. Christie. His campaign has left much to be desired in strategy, execution and philosophy. On various issues of great importance to New Jerseyans, such as COAH, property taxes and state aid to schools, I remain unconvinced that he will address them to my satisfaction and to the satisfaction of my fellow conservatives. On the other hand, I do believe he will improve our business climate, perhaps even enact some meaningful educational reforms via initiatives like vouchers and promoting more charter schools and, hopefully, live up to his promise to nominate conservative judges to the bench. Above all, though, I believe he will at least stop the bleeding caused by the destructive fiscal policies of Corzine, McGreevey and the Democrat-controlled legislature.

The alternative – a second term for Jon Corzine – is one I believe this state cannot bear. Jon Corzine has had four years to prove himself and he has failed miserably. By every measure, his term has been a disaster for New Jersey. Under his watch, the state has firmly established itself as the worst in the nation for taxes. He has shown himself to be disdainful of the plight of taxpayers while he protects government workers and curries favor with public sector unions like the NJEA. He will continue to appoint far left judges to the NJ Supreme Court – a court that, in the past, has handed down the terrible Mt. Laurel and Abbott decisions. A court that will have much to say on these matters, as well issues like gay marriage, in the future (if not near future).

The view of many conservatives – that four more years of destruction under Corzine would increase the chances of a conservative being a viable candidate in 2013 – I do believe has merit. Some lessons may well need to be learned the hard way. But that is an awfully tough path to choose when the stakes right now are so high. Four more years of Jon Corzine’s policies likely will lead New Jersey to financial ruin. If New Jersey fails, all of her citizens will likewise suffer. This is a choice I cannot make in good conscience.

Other factors, also, are difficult to ignore. At the national level, we are witnessing the most radical left-wing agenda in our history. We are painfully close to witnessing a government takeover of our healthcare system by a bunch of ruthless, power-hungry, liberal statists who have no regard for our constitution and the nation’s founding.

While I do believe that when next year’s mid-term elections finally arrive, voters will base their decision on issues other than this New Jersey gubernatorial election, a Chris Christie victory (along with victories in Virginia and NY-23) very well could contribute to building momentum for a Republican resurgence.

In the near-term, it could well damage Obama and help defeat the healthcare legislation before Congress. Democrat ‘blue dogs’ and other fence sitters may well ‘read the tea leaves’ and not want to risk their seats by voting for this agenda.

If circumstances were different, and the polls suggested Mr. Christie were on his way to a runaway victory or, conversely, a sound defeat, lodging a ‘protest vote’ would be a far easier choice. But this is not the case. If the polls are to be believed, this election will be a nail biter and Mr. Christie needs every vote possible.

Just yesterday President Obama said this of Governor Corzine:

He’s one of the best partners I have in the White House. We work together…We know our work is far from over.

Is this the kind of person we really want to remain in office? Knowing what we know now, are there any among us who would not prefer John McCain to be our President despite the fact that a McCain presidency might have been bad for the conservative movement?

Chris Christie is by no means my ideal candidate. I would much prefer to pull the lever for on Tuesday for Steve Lonegan (or even Jason Cullen for that matter). But given our current circumstances, and after much soul searching, such a vote in my mind cannot be justified.

On this Judgment Day, there is only one choice. We must terminate Jon Corzine.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!